The invention relates to a utility vehicle with hinged cover element.
In contrast to a car, in many utility vehicles a driver's cab can only be accessed by ascent devices. These ascent devices can have a ladder-like form and are constructed, for example in wheel-driven tractors, transversely to the direction of travel of the utility vehicle. The ascent devices are also usually located centrally between front and rear tires of the utility vehicle. However there are also utility vehicles, such as track-type tractors, construction machines or harvesting machines, in which a central arrangement of the cab is not possible as the respective utility vehicle does not have sufficient space for it. In utility vehicles of this kind the ascent device is divided into two regions, a vertical ascent region and an ascent region running parallel to the direction of travel of the utility vehicle, the two ascent regions being connected together. In utility vehicles of this kind it is therefore possible to enter the cab, for example following an ascent using the vertical ascent region, only via the ascent region running parallel to the direction of travel of the utility vehicle.
Using the vertical ascent region and the ascent region running parallel to the direction of travel of the utility vehicle, other regions of the vehicle are also accessible in which, for example, maintenance or repair work is to be carried out and which would otherwise be difficult to access. A fuel tank can also be arranged on the utility vehicle in such a way that refuelling of the utility vehicle is only possible via the ascent region running parallel to the direction of travel of the utility vehicle. Since the ascent region running parallel to the direction of travel of the vehicle is located at a height of approximately 1.5 m however, a safeguarding element has to be provided on this ascent region to prevent accidents.
The safeguarding element should include a handle to reduce the risk of accidents resulting from a fall from the ascent region running parallel to the direction of travel of the utility vehicle. This safeguarding element can be constructed for example as a bent tube and is usually permanently connected to the utility vehicle, and at relatively high vehicle speeds this causes a relatively high coefficient of drag of the utility vehicle owing to, for example, protruding edges of the safeguarding element. The risk of injury is also increased as a result of the protruding edges of the safeguarding element, for example for motor cyclists who can be flung against these relatively large edges in the event of a collision with the utility vehicle.
The object underlying the present invention accordingly lies in providing a safeguarding element which improves the aerodynamic properties of the utility vehicle and simultaneously reduces the risk of injury in the event of a collision.